Aircraft Design Lab

Design Problem: 1

Preliminary Weight Estimation

A 700 seater jet airplane cruising at M=0.8, at 11 km altitude (speed of sound =

296.6 m/s) and having a range of 9500 km is considered. The number of flight
attendants is regulated by FAR part 125, section 125.269: For airplanes having more
than 100 passengers (two flight attendants plus one additional flight attendant for
each unit (or part of a unit) of 50 passengers above 100 passengers. Flight crew
members are assumed to have a weight of 200 lbs. on the other hand flight
attendants weight is designated in 119.3 and requires that 140 lbs be allocated for a
flight attendant whose sex is unknown. There are two crew members one pilot and
one co-pilot. The payload for a passenger aircraft primarily includes passengers and
their luggage and baggage. In reality, passengers could be a combination of adult
males, adult females, children and infants. To observe the reality and to be on the
safe side, an average weight of 180 lbs is selected. On the other hand, 100 lbs of
luggage is considered for each passenger.

Fuel weight ratios for the segments of taxi, take-off, climb, descent, approach and
landing

W2 W3 W5
Taxi, take-off: 0.98 ; Climb: 0.97 ; Descent: 0.99 ; Approach and
W1 W2 W4
W6
Landing: 0.997
W5

The aircraft has jet (turboprop engine), so we have to use the following equation to
find the fuel weight ratio for the segment of range.
R .C
W4
e 0.866 *V*L D m ax ; SFC=C = 0.4 lb/hr/lb
W3

SFC = 0.4 lb/hr.lb = 0.4*(1/3600 sec) = 0.000111 secs

Maximum Lift to Drag ratio = 17

Overall fuel weight ratio is given as

 W6 W2 W3 W4 W5 W6
* * * *
W1 W1 W2 W3 W4 W5

In order to find the fuel weight fraction, one must first determine the above weight
fractions for all of the mission segments.

Fuel weight fraction is given as

Wf W
1.051 6
WT O W1

Maximum take-off weight of the aircraft is given as

WPL WC
WT O
W W
1 f E
WT O WT O

The last term in determining maximum take-off weight is the empty weight fraction.
At this moment (preliminary design phase), the aircraft has been design only
conceptually, hence, there is no geometry or sizing. Therefore the empty weight
fraction cannot be calculated analytically. The only way is to past history and
statistics. The empty weight ratio is established by the following equation where the
co-efficients a and b are taken from the standard value

a = -7.754*10^-8, b = 0.576

Thus:

WE
aWT O b
WT O

WE
= 7.754 108 WTO + 0.576
WTO

Method 1:

Solve this set of two non-linear algebraic equations.

WPL + WC WPL + WC
WTO = y=
Wf WE W
1 (W ) (W ) 1 (W f ) x
TO TO TO

WE
= 7.754 108 WTO + 0.576 x = 7.754 108 y + 0.576
WTO

Method 2:

An alternative way to find the take-off weight is the trial and error technique.
Step: 1 Guess some initial take-off weight and substitute in the following equation

WE
aWT O b
WT O

Step: 2 Substitute the result of empty weight ratio from step 1 into the following
equation

WPL WC
WT O
W W
1 f E
WT O WT O

Find the error percentage also and try to reduce the error as much as possible.

Method 3:

The third alternative way is to solve the equations analytically. First manipulate the
following equation

WPL WC
WT O
W W
1 f E
WT O WT O

WE W W WC
1 f PL
WT O WT O WT O

Substitute the manipulated equation into the next equation

W W WC
1 f PL aWT O b
WT O WT O

Wf WPL + WC
aWTO + b 1 + ( )+( )=0
WTO WTO

Solve the non-linear algebraic equation and find out the maximum take-off weight.